Developer InnerSloth's decision to cancel the planned Among Us sequel means there will be more updates to the incredibly popular social deduction game in the near future. Since its meteoric surge to the forefront of the gaming and streaming communities, avid players have likely already explored every location and feature in great detail. Particularly adventurous players can participate in the public Beta that released on October 10 to test-drive some new additions coming to the game.
In this Beta, players can experience four key new features that will undoubtedly improve the overall quality of life in the game and Impostors' chances of winning. Right now, the Beta is only available to PC players, and it is not clear when these changes will roll out for players on mobile. Here is everything new and different about Among Us in the Beta.
Everything New in the Among Us Beta
The two most impactful gameplay features in the Among Us Beta will help improve Impostors' chances of getting a win. The first is the option for players to hide the taskbar. Normally, the taskbar is always visible and can provide visual confirmation that crewmates are completing tasks. It was also a fairly good way for crewmates to catch Impostors faking a task, as they could watch and wait to see if the taskbar would move while the Impostor pretended to work. In the Beta, the lobby host will be able to determine when the taskbar will be visible by changing the settings. Rather than staying on always, it can also now be displayed only during meetings or not at all. This will add a dimension of difficulty for crewmates trying to finish all the tasks and win and make it easier for Impostors to more reasonably lie about faking tasks.
The second gameplay change that benefits Impostors is the ability to vote anonymously. In the regular version of the game, all players can see which color voted for whom during a meeting, and this could often be used to pinpoint Impostors trying to frame a crewmate or vote for someone without offering good evidence. In the Beta, the lobby host can choose to make voting anonymous. This will make it easier for Impostors to "snipe" crewmates by voting for them and getting them kicked out when everyone else has chosen to skip the vote. It can also make it easier for players to trick one another by claiming to have voted one way while actually voting another. This feature will introduce some new challenges and avenues for deception to the game.
Arguably the most necessary and requested feature in the Among Us Beta is colorblind accessibility for the Fix Wiring common task. In the game as it is now, players need to match wires by color. This can be especially difficult for players who are colorblind, as it is possible they will only see shades and struggle to complete the task. For accessibility, the Beta introduces symbols onto the end of matching wires. This is a sorely needed feature and will be a welcome addition to the game once the changes roll out.
Finally, the Beta introduces a feature that displays players' equipped cosmetics, including hats and masks, on the Meeting screen. Prior to the Beta, if a crewmate noticed a player wearing a certain kind of hat use a vent, but couldn't tell exactly who it was, there were few options for determining and outing that player as Impostor. In the Beta, players can simply call an Emergency Meeting to see exactly who was wearing the cosmetic and make their accusation right away.
Among Us is available for PC, iOS, and Android devices.